Suspect in killing active in theater, skilled in karate

DOVER — A local actor and martial arts expert with more than a decade of experience performing at local theaters is the man now facing charges in the death of a University of New Hampshire student.

Seth Mazzaglia, a 29-year-old Dover resident, was charged Saturday with second-degree murder in connection with the death of Elizabeth Marriott. The UNH sophomore disappeared after telling a friend shortly before 9 p.m. she was heading to Dover.

At a press conference Saturday, Assistant Attorney General James Vara announced police have gathered “credible” information establishing Marriott is dead, but they have been unable to locate her body. They were concentrating their search Friday and Saturday at Peirce Island in Portsmouth. The search was called off at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday, according to a Portsmouth police official, who said they were unable to locate a body there.

A family member told Foster's Friday that Marriott was heading to an apartment on Mill Street in Dover Tuesday evening, but never showed up. The last transmission from her cell phone came at about 10:10 p.m., when a signal reached a tower in Dover.

Her car, a 2001 Mazda Tribute, has since been discovered at a parking lot at UNH.

Investigators were active on Mill Street in Dover on Friday evening, but would not discuss the investigation. A Dover Police Department crime scene investigation van and two police cruisers were seen parked outside a Mill Street apartment building.

Mazzaglia appears to have been the operator of a website located at www.sjmazzaglia.com. The page provides career history for a man named Seth J. Mazzaglia living at 1 Mill St. in Dover.

The website indicates Mazzaglia is an “experienced actor, writer and fight choreographer,” who has been active in southern New Hampshire's theater community for several years. The site indicates Mazzaglia is about 220 pounds, and is 5 feet 9 inches tall.

As a stage actor, Mazzaglia spent time working in the environs around Prescott Park and Peirce Island at least once in the past. In 2008, he directed the fights in a production of “Beauty and the Beast” in Prescott Park, according to his website.

A listing of his past theater work includes 17 performances between 2000 and 2010, including shows at Portsmouth Music Hall, Rochester Opera House and Seacoast Repertory Theatre.

Some of his most recent work was with the Garrison Players Arts Center in Rollinsford. He appeared in productions of “The Miracle Worker” in 2010, performing as Captain Keller, and played Reverend David in a 2009 performance of “The Foreigner,” according to the website.

In 2005, Mazzaglia played the role of Richie Valens in a July performance of “The Buddy Holly Story,” at Seacoast Repertory Theatre. Former cast member Brett Wulfson remembered Mazzaglia as a nice guy who was “very involved with self defense.”

Wulfson, who played the part of Buddy Holly's wife, said that Mazzaglia taught female cast members self-defense techniques.

“I have nothing bad to say about him,” she said. “He was always very kind to me.”

A page created by someone named Seth Mazzaglia on the website www.exploretalent.com contains the message: “I am primarily a stage actor currently based out of Dover, NH with dance experience who is looking to break into film. I have some experience writing and directing as well, and in my spare time enjoy teaching Martial Arts and practicing Ballroom Dance.”

The website indicates Mazzaglia graduated from Berwick Academy in 2001, and earned a bachelor's degree in theater, with a minor in dance, from UNH in 2006. The university confirmed Saturday that Mazzaglia earned a theater degree that year.

The website indicates Mazzaglia also received a “750 hour certification” in massage therapy from McIntosh College in 2007.

A “special skills and talents” section of the website lists juggling, flexibility, and qualification as a third degree black belt in Okinawan karate. The site also indicates Mazzaglia is proficient in the use of katana, sai, and butterfly swords, among other weapons.

Robert Modee, a Kittery, Maine, martial arts instructor, confirmed Mazzaglia holds a black belt in karate. Modee said he has trained with Mazzaglia for nearly two decades.

Modee was struggling to understand the news of Mazzaglia's arrest shortly after he got word of the murder charge Saturday afternoon.

“He's been with me, training with me, since he was probably 10 or 12 years old,” Modee said.

Mazzaglia has been helping to give martial arts lessons to students at the Kittery Community Center, Modee said, and the pair worked closely together still this year.

“I don't understand what's going on right now,” Modee said. “I'm completely floored with all this. I don't even know what to think.”

Debra Martuscello Wiley, owner of a consignment store in downtown Portsmouth, was at a loss for words after being told Mazzaglia was arrested in connection with the murder. She played Kate in the 2010 Garrison Players production of “The Miracle Worker.”

“This is just shocking me very badly, because I've been so upset for that girl's parents,” she said. “I've been so upset.”

Police are asking anyone with information pertaining to Marriott's death to contact Dover police at 603-742-4646 or the New Hampshire State Police at 603-271-3636.